Arko Datto

Beginning in early 2014, a few months before Hindu extremists took over the country, Mannequin, the latest series by Arko Datto (IN, 1986), presents premonitory signs of things to come, splayed out across fraught nocturnal landscapes, providing glimpses into symbols that are emblematic of present day India. Intolerance, terror and the clash of civilisations resonate universally across cultures and continents as the primary forces shaping global society today. Mannequin portrays Indian night - the first installment of an existential trilogy on nighttime, nightlife and night space – three essential elements that exist in grudging harmony and brutal confrontation.